entelechy

[ en-tel-uh-kee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural en·tel·e·chies.

entelechy

/ ɛnˈtɛlɪkɪ /

(in the philosophy of Aristotle) actuality as opposed to potentiality
(in the system of Leibnitz) the soul or principle of perfection of an object or person; a monad or basic constituent
something that contains or realizes a final cause, esp the vital force thought to direct the life of an organism

1595–1605; < Late Latin entelechīa < Greek entelécheia, equivalent to en- en- ² + tél ( os ) goal + éch ( ein ) to have + -eia -y ³

C17: from Late Latin entelechia, from Greek entelekheia, from en- ² + telos goal, completion + ekhein to have

Shall we say with Aristotle, that the soul is the entelechy or form of an organized living body?

In particular, he picked out the Aristotelian "entelechy" to stop a gap in the philosophy of his own age.'

Entelechy was a useful name for X, the more so as it had the authority of Aristotle, the master of scholasticism.

We could regard what is called catalysis solely as an agent in the service of entelechy.

Let us again apply the name entelechy to that which lies at the very beginning of all individual morphogenesis.

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